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Carmichael recalls 44 years as pharmacy owner


At peak, business filled 250 prescriptions daily

For forty-four years Alan Carmichael’s Uvalde Rexall Drug Company occupied the corner of North Getty and West Nopal streets. Now, only the sign remains. And for those 44 years, a group of local men showed up every morning at the side door for their morning coffee 30 minutes before Carmichael officially opened the front door for business.

Among those early-risers were George Horner, Charlie Raine, Steve Hoag, Dub Stewart, George Wentz, Jack Van Cleave, Ed Stanfield, Jack Molloy and Bruce Kingsbery. Carmichael recalls that when he first bought the drug store in 1963, coffee was just a nickel. When he sold the business in 2007, coffee was 46 cents.


The Uvalde Drug Store, originally located at the end of the F. A. Piper building, was in operation as early as 1883 as evidenced by an ad in The Weekly Hesperian, the predecessor of the Uvalde Leader-News. It was owned at times by various doctors, including Dr. E. L. Birmingham, the original owner; Dr. C. W. Harrison; and Dr. B. M. Hines. It was Hines who changed the name to Uvalde Drug Company and hired Billy Evans to run the store which was then located in the middle of the opera house block. In 1902 pharmacist Josh Barger bought the store and, in 1903, sold to C. E. Wicker, who sold it to Bascom Treadwell. Treadwell moved the drug company westward to the end of the same block into the Zachry Building, where it remained until 1958. In 1912, Treadwell, who would later own the Palace Drug Store, sold the store to the Fisher brothers, who owned the store for 16 years.

The Fishers sold the store to W. R. Muir in 1928, and, a year later, Muir added the “Rexall” line to the shelves of his store. Robert Thompson bought the store from Muir in 1941 but sold it in 1953 to his son-in-law Val Ellis and his partner Jimmy Franks.

In 1958 Ellis and Franks moved the Uvalde Rexall Drug Company to the corner of Getty and West Nopal, the spot once occupied by Walgreens from 1940 to 1957. After the accidental death of Franks, Ellis sold the drug store to Dave Howard in 1962. In 1963, Bea and Alan Carmichael purchased the store.

Carmichael, a 1954 graduate of the University of Texas pharmacy program, recalls, “I had worked as a pharmacist in Houston, Corpus, and even Sabinal, but after attending a pharmacy meeting attended by Dave Howard, who owned the Rexall Drug Store in Crystal City, he convinced me to come to Uvalde to work in his store there. He said I could work there a year or so and then buy the pharmacy from him for a down payment of $5,000.”

At its peak, Carmichael says the pharmacy was filling 250 prescriptions a day. Carmichael often manned the pharmacy himself with pharmacists Ted Sanderlin and Barbara Pennington filling in part time. Carmichael’s wife Bea worked in the office. Carmichael recalls that there were usually about 12 employees, four of whom worked at the fountain which could accommodate 30 people.

Employees from over the years included Mildred Newton, Rhoda Dean, Ruby Kelly, Sybil Tomerlin Wallace, Frances Craig, Lola Wolff, Alejo Sanchez, Ella Dameron, Lorene Burks, Mary Chapoy, Margie Aleman, Alicia Rodriguez and Gloria Luna.

After the Palace Drug Store and Walgreens closed their soda fountains in the 1970s, the Uvalde Rexall Drug Company had the only soda fountain in town. The fountain was known for its hamburgers, malts, shakes, and particularly for its ice cream sodas. Carmichael proudly recalls, “It was a full line old-fashioned drug store.”

He also recalls, “Every afternoon Harvey Kinchlow, the well-known Uvalde black minister, came in and purchased a strawberry ice cream soda to go. He never sat down at the fountain. But one day I asked him to sit down and have a cup of coffee with me, and he did. I felt like I had integrated Uvalde as Harvey and I would have coffee every afternoon at the fountain. He would then order his ice cream soda and be on his way. Harvey and his wife became good friends of mine and my wife Bea.”

Carmichael says he could always tell when tourists would come into the drug store.

“They would come in the door and stand there, looking around to see where everything was. If I wasn’t swamped, I would go down and greet them and show them around. I would recommend our famous chocolate ice cream soda and tell them, ‘If you don’t like it, it’s free.’”

“We only had one shoplifter in 44 years,” Carmichael recalled. “An employee notified me that the man leaving the store had picked up an item. I picked up my hammer and chased him down to the First State Bank building. I threw the hammer as hard as I could and hit his rear end. He threw down the item and ran off.”

“On another occasion, about 20 years ago, someone came down the vent and took a number of drugs from the pharmacy but didn’t mess anything up. That was our only burglary.”

As far as celebrities, Carmichael recalls that Matthew McConaughey was a frequent customer as a child.

Carmichael sold the drug store to Bruce Gingrich in 2007.

Prior to that, Walgreens had attempted to buy the store, but Carmichael wanted to keep it traditional with the popular soda fountain and home delivery. “We needed an independent drug store in town. I didn’t even ask them how much they wanted for the store.”

Gingrich sold the store to Walgreens in 2012.

Carmichael has experienced a lot in his 84 years. One of 24 seniors in the 1950 graduating class of Katy High School, Carmichael recalls, “Following graduation, with a suitcase in hand, I hitchhiked to Austin and entered the University of Texas where I spent four years in school and ROTC.

“Pharmacy school was only four years at the time. Manza Hale was in my class. I also met my wife Bea there. Korea was winding down, so after our honeymoon, I signed up in the army as a First Lieutenant. I spent an additional six months at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, where I became a paratrooper. That was followed by two years in Germany, the best two years of my life as Bea and I loved to travel.”

Carmichael still resides in Uvalde. He and Bea, who died last week, were married for 63 years. They have one son, who is a pharmacist, and two adopted children, a brother and sister they adopted when Alan Jr. was 6 years old.

Carmichael admits that he always gets a little choked up when he recalls the days of Uvalde Drug and all the Uvalde residents who frequented the store.

Traditions are hard to break in a small town like Uvalde. The drug store might be gone, along with those early morning coffee klatches, but you’ll still find some of the old-timers gathering every weekday morning at the Uvalde Convention and Visitors Bureau for their morning coffee. Tom Austin sits at the head of table. Among the regulars are Jack Molloy, Dr. Cecil Arnim, Jerry Brewer, Charles Raine, John Harrell, Padgett Montgomery, Tom Blair, Steve Hoag and Rodney Reagan. Today, attendees pay $1 for their cup of coffee, but the camaraderie and the memories are still priceless.

Allene Mandry was born in Uvalde where she attended elementary school before moving to San Antonio. Now a retired teacher, she has a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Education from Trinity University. She spends her time doing genealogy research and giving presentations on genealogy. Mandry and her husband, Arthur, live on a ranch near Camp Verde.

Virginia Wood Davis Archives|El Progreso Memorial LibraryCars and a pickup are parked outside the Uvalde Drug Company in this circa-1955 photo. In 1955, the business was owned by Val Ellis and Jimmy Franks. Ellis sold the business to Dave Howard in 1962, and Alan Carmichael purchased the business in 1963.

Virginia Wood Davis Archives|El Progreso Memorial LibraryCars and a pickup are parked outside the Uvalde Drug Company in this circa-1955 photo. In 1955, the business was owned by Val Ellis and Jimmy Franks. Ellis sold the business to Dave Howard in 1962, and Alan Carmichael purchased the business in 1963.

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